Cheesy Beef Sliders

Juicy cheeseburgers are the perfect quick dinner and sliders are even faster. Perfect kid food. Perfect weekend sit around the tv cheering on some basketball playoff games. Perfect hurry home from school and sports practice, do your homework and off to church or other weeknight activities and not be late. 

These little cheesy beefy gems are also healthy. You know how I am always trying to make things a bit healthier.... these are packed with nutrients. AND even better the "healthiness" is impossible to detect. This scores high with me and the somewhat picky little smiles in my house. 

This recipe comes from the book the sneaky chef to the rescue. It rightfully boasts that it contains 101 recipes and sneaky tricks for creating healthy meals that kids will love. So far I have tried 2 recipes and both times my oldest CLEARED his plate, AND both times he was eating a vegetable I know he hates with a passion - but had no clue. Seriously amazing. So until his taste buds mature a little bit because truthfully some veggies are unfortunately an acquired taste and have a bitter edge for kids' sweeter taste buds... this little trick will be up my sleeve. This author knows her stuff... here is my adaption of her slider recipe: 

 Cheesy Beef Sliders

Makes at least 12 slider burgers 

Ingredients

1/2 cup of green puree (see recipe below)

1 Tb ketchup

1/4 cup of wheat germ

 1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder (optional - I put it in everything)  
1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp onion powder

1 lb lean ground beef 

12 soft whole wheat dinner rolls

your favorite cheese, sliced - only need 1/2 slice per slider

optional garnishes - lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, mustard, mayo, avocado, more ketchup, ect...

Directions (the easy part): 

1. Mix the first 6 things together in a large bowl. 

2. Grab a large plate and start forming the 12 patties as you can see I didn't grab a large enough plate lol. 

3. Pan fry with a little non cooking spray or olive oil the burgers or grill them inside or outside for about 2-3 minutes each side over medium heat. They are small. I did them inside in a pan and was able to do 5 or 6 at a time. 

4. While the sliders are cooking cut your cheese, slice the garnishes and heat the dinner rolls

5. Serve warm topped with the cheese. Goes really well with watermelon, crunchy veggies and dip, or even a frozen vegetable heated on the stove since no one will be able to tell that there are veggies in their burgers. 

The green puree

So the magic of this burger is the healthy green puree that you are thoroughly mixing into the meat. This is a green 3 vegetable mixture that you are blending together until its so super smooth. The brilliant thing about this, is that if you do have picky kiddos like me, you can make this puree ahead of time. It keeps really well in the fridge and the freezer. Thus you can make sure they don't see you, using the vegetables they think they don't like. See that. Think of these kids and perhaps husbands as overthinking it. We eat with our minds and our eyes first its a survival thing... but in this case its a disservice to getting some cancer fighting, cold butt kicking, energy delivering nutrients that they need to fuel their daily activities. Its good for you too. Us moms need a bit of help from our food too. Trust me if I could live on just coffee I would but yeah it hasn't worked yet. 

So try this:

Steam 2 cups fresh broccoli until tender takes about 10 minutes. In the last 2 minutes add in 1 cup of peas. 

Add the broccoli and peas to a blender and blend for 2-3 minutes. Add 2-3 Tbs of water and 2 cups of fresh baby spinach. Blend on high. Occasionally stop and stir if needed and if necessary use 1-2 Tbs of water.

My Notes:

I used leftover broccoli from the night before to save time. I just planned it that way. Since leftovers are given the evil eye and not one of my kids or husband enjoys leftover veggies it was brilliant. I used regular spinach because thats what I had in my fridge. Whatever you have totally works. I used 2 cups of peas instead of 1. The amount of water is an estimation. Start with 3 Tbs of water in your blender with the veggies and add 1-2 Tbs at a time until your blender has gotten it so smooth there are no chunks at all. Should be absolutely smooth. This puree felt much easier to make than I thought it would be. I have used it for 2 meals so far and figure I can get 2 more out of it. Nice. 

Amazing "Rodeo" Cheeseburgers

Howdy. 

Its summer time still, right? I think so at least the warm weather still is screaming summer.   And summer time is the best time for a good burger. Right? Right. This not just a regular burger either. This meaty delight is amazing. I didn't even edit the pic. Theres no filter. All that color, the peeking golden crunchy onion ring, and dark thick cascading ruby colored bbq sauce... 

Hello summer. I guess you aren't so bad. 

I paired it with a veg to kinda balance out some that goodness with the real world. Life. Anyways .... for this burger I would eat 2-3 pounds of steamed veggies if I had to. Life changing-ly flavorful. The only thing that could make it better was if there was bacon on it or it was zero calories. 

And for once in my life I didn't "health-ify" this. Theres no hidden veggies. There's nothing but huge homemade kicked up onion rings, a flavorful seasoning mix in this oversized burger patty, my fav smoky bbq sauce drizzled over the top of 3 crunchy dill pickles, and thick melted slices of medium cheddar cheese on a sesame seed bun. 

P.S. It took less than 25 minutes to pull it together - side dish included. 

Seriously easy. Dangerously easy? 

Possibly. 

Heres how its made: 
Adapted from: Center Cut Cook (amazing blog!) 
Serves 3 with some extra onion rings on the side 

Ingredients: 
1 lb ground beef
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp garlic powder 
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp salt 
3 hamburger buns
6 slices of medium or sharp cheddar cheese 
*6 crunchy onion rings 
Your fav bbq sauce
1 tsp oil
dill pickles (helps cut through the fat of the burger, cheese, onion rings ect..) 


5 Easy Steps
1. Mix the seasonings into the ground beef and form the beef into 3 very large patties
2. Heat up a large flat pan. Drizzle a bit of oil in your pan and cook the patties according to whatever you want. We do medium well or well in my house so it took about 10-12 minutes because these things are huge! 
3. While the burgers are cooking make your onion rings*
4. 3-4 minutes before your burgers are finished cooking put a single slice of cheese on each top so it has time to melt. 
5. Assemble the burgers. Put cheese and bbq sauce on the bottom buns. Then put the delicious burger on top of the cheese. Then layer a couple pickles and crunchy onion rings and another drizzle of sauce over the burger. Top with the bun and dig in! 

* Onion rings in this pic were homemade and its really really easy. Click on over here to get the recipe. Its basically just dredging raw onion slices into egg mixture and then into crumbs and then baking them. If you have ever baked some chicken or used the shake and bake stuff then you can totally do this. The only changes I made to this recipe was I used bbq chips instead of regular potato chips and I halved the recipe. I thought that was totally enough for 3 people. Be advised... she says to only use half of the cracker/chip crumb mixture at a time. Do it. I didn't and the last few onion rings really didn't do well because the mixture was too wet to stick to the surface of the onion. 

Whole Wheat Chicken Parm Sliders

It's faster than a speeding bullet takeout. 

It's faster than a plane pizza delivery guy. 

It's super fast chicken parmesan sliders on whole wheat rolls.  

Slightly messy, super cheesy, crunchy tasty chicken, delicious bites that are perfect for eating before running out the door to a game, practice, church, or football game. Trust me. You'll wonder how you ever lived without them. 

We watch a lot of super heroes in my house full of boys. Seriously though this super kiddo friendly and wallet friendly dish, might be my new super hero "go to easy fall dinner". 

Speaking of super.... What do you get if you cross the man of steel with a hot broth?

Souperman.

I thought it was funny..... food blog... soup-er :) 

Okay I am nerd. I don't mind. 

The timing of finding this idea is so perfect. We have a super busy fall ahead of us. Soccer. 2 college classes. Piano lessons for everyone. Bass lessons. Orchestra. Working full time. Two busy kids. Physical therapy. Speech therapy. Teaching my first women's bible study (ahhh!). Yeah. Just thinking about this list makes me want go hide under the bed and go back to bed. But its going to be okay. I might be drinking a ton more coffee this fall lol especially ugh with those early saturday morning practices and games, but at least I have recipes like this that literally fall out of the freezer and onto plates. The first time I made this, my oldest ate double what he usually does, and asked me when I was going to make it again. Super hero mom to the rescue.... feeding the kids without breaking a sweat. Lol Okay okay. No more super jokes. Besides not breaking a sweat in August in Southern Az might be impossible. 

Warning: This recipe is unlike majority of what I have on my blog. It uses a bunch of short cuts that aren't exactly healthy but in my mind this is better than a drive through and tastes amazing so yeah. The only thing thats not store bought is the sauce and its because I had leftover pasta sauce in the freezer ready to go. Its been that kind of week. 

Whole Wheat Chicken Parm Sliders

Makes 2- 12 sliders adjust ingredients accordingly to whatever you need

Most people and hungry kids would eat 2 each

Ingredient list: 
1 package of store bought of 12 whole wheat dinner rolls
Sliced provolone cheese - 1 slice per slider
Breaded fully cooked chicken strips 
Pasta sauce - You'll need about 1-2 Tbs per slider (see tips below)

Pasta Sauce Tips: 
1. This recipe only uses a couple spoonfuls of pasta sauce so if you are just opening a jar for this recipe. Freeze the rest. It freezes beautifully in a freezer container or plastic freezer bag and you'll have it to use in many places like on top of pasta, as sauce on a pizza, as a dipping sauce for cheesy Italian bread/bread sticks, on top of a Italian pepperoni burger (Yum!), ect.  

2. Or next time you make spaghetti double the sauce and freeze it. Don't use store bought sauce unless you're in a pinch. It only takes a few ingredients and 15 minutes. See my base recipe below - I say base because i am always changing it slightly based on what I have. 

Super easy 15 min pasta sauce: pour into a blender 2 cans of tomato sauce, 1 can of diced fire roasted tomatoes, and some italian seasonings - right now I am on an oregano kick so I put 2 heaping tablespoons of that in. Use what you have. Use what you know tastes good. On the stove I sauted a few veg that I already had in my fridge (zucchini, onion, and 1 clove of garlic) in some olive oil and then added that to the blender. Last pour the mostly pureed sauce back into the pan to heat up to use immediately or put in covered containers in the fridge to use over the next 2-3 days or in the freezer. It keeps for a long time. If you like garlic add more. If you have some squash throw that in. If you have eggplant saute that up. Lots of great veggies and nutrition can be added and hidden this way. If you like the taste of red wine pour a cup of that in... super flexible. super yummy. Great way to introduce new veggies to your kids. 

What does a super hero put in his drink?

Just ice.

Lol. Funny? Okay mabye. 

Assembling the sliders: 

1. Cook the chicken strips in the oven as indicated on the package. 
2. Gently slice open the whole wheat dinner rolls
3. After the chicken is cooked cut them in half depending on how large the chicken is. I cut a couple of them in half and put the halves on my kiddos sliders so nothing would be sticking out. Small hands need smaller portions :) 
4. Layer the chicken on the bottom of the roll, then the sauce, and the cheese on top. Put the top of the roll on and let it sit and melt the cheese a little bit. 
5. Eat and enjoy :) 


Super easy 
Super yummy
Thanks for stopping by! 

Stephanie

Kale Caesar Chicken Salad with Tater Tot Croutons

Howdy.

So this isn't a recipe, but more of an idea that really works for my family. Maybe it will work for you too, as the summer comes to a close and you still don't want to eat something heavy. I eat salad all the time - honestly like 6 times a week I have a salad for either lunch or dinner. Salad is my friend. It keeps the scale happy and its cold perfect summer food. Getting more veggies into my family hasn't been so easy until I came across this idea. These large juicy chunks of chicken, and crunchy tater tots that my family loves turn this idea into a fun and filling meal. Dipping tater tots into ketchup and ranch is only a stepping stone from having them dipped into a bit of caesar dressing. Its ranch with an attitude :) 

My last sandwich recipe was how to turn a chicken caesar salad into a sub and it was awesome. This time I am playing with the original caesar salad idea, by switching up the greens and croutons. Instead of romaine lettuce and I am using baby organic kale. Instead of crunchy croutons I am using tater tots. Yes tater tots in the salad. It will taste similar to dipping french fries into ranch dressing. Its good I promise. Plus it will get your kids excited about eating more veggies. 

So this isn't a super healthy meal if are looking for non processed stuff. It uses store bought tater tots and salad dressing, but its refreshing, tasty, and great lighter summer meal. Processed foods are a give and take thing my house. Especially when my husband is working nights, I am trying to feed the kids and myself alone, and the little crawling one is crawling and getting into everything, and I am still exhausted from the night before's little one waking up because he wants more milk.... yada yada yada.  #betterthanfastfood #morecoffeeplease

Ingredient list (extremely flexible)

Cooked Chicken, leftovers, store bought, or just crockpot some chicken breasts ( half per person) with some water covering the chicken, salt, pepper, squirt of lemon juice, one smashed garlic clove or a tsp of garlic powder on high for 3-4 hrs or low for 6-8 hours. 

Kale Casear Salad kit from the store  OR  1- 1& 1/2 cups of baby kale per person and some bottled caesar salad dressing- any kind. I just bought a bottle that was on sale. 

3-4 cherry tomatoes per person or omit if you don't care of them. They are good for color and nutrition.

A small or large handful shredded or grated parm cheese or romano if want to go fancy or just a diff taste per person. I used about 1/2 cup I think total. Just buy real cheese not the stuff on the shelf that is loaded with preservatives that doesn't need to be refrigerated. 

Tater tots or potato rounds (whatever you call them where you are)

Directions:

Slice the cherry tomatoes in half

Cook the tater tots until they extra extra crispy ( I do an extra 5 minutes)

Dress the kale with the caesar dressing. Kale is a tougher veg than typical romaine and can hold up to the dressing and won't wilt right away so feel free to do this first and your salad will still be crunchy at the end.

Dice or shred up the chicken

Assemble the plates putting the tater tots on top of the salad

Eat!


Enjoy this simple dinner idea from my Az kitchen. I hope it works for your family and gives your kiddos a new appreciation for salad as a main course or at least gets some kale into those cute little stomaches.

Stephanie

Zucchini Hamburger Helper (from scratch)

Howdy. Its hot today. It was hot yesterday. Heating up the kitchen is not something I am fond of in the hot southern Az summer so this 20 minute family favorite is the top of my "go to" summer dinner list. Its healthy, easily flexible use whatever milk product you have, whatever cheese you want, any sort of ground meat, and it always comes out amazingly flavorful and kid friendly. Plus it helps my very sweet husband retain some of his childhood memories of eating the kind from the box because I am not buying the box stuff. 

I heart zucchini. Its my healthy favorite vegetable. Whenever I want to make something healthier I add in zucchini. In the summer, this lovable green vegetable are huge, yummy,  and super cheap. I changed this recipe up from the original by adding in zucchini, more pasta, more cheese, and switching to a whole grain pasta. Check out these meaty and cheesy pics and the recipe below for a great meal.  

Zucchini Hamburger Helper (from Scratch)

Serves 4-5 
Adapted from this really great blog: Farmgirl Gourmet

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (I used 85%) but ground turkey works well too
1 large zucchini or about 2 cups worth, diced into small sized cubes (for kids and husbands)
2 1/2 cups of milk (I used 2%)
2 1/2 cups of hot water
3 cups of whole grain elbow pasta
1 Tbs cornstarch
1 Tbs chili powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
1/4 tsp or a pinch of red pepper flakes
2 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (seriously any kind of great melting cheese is good)

How to make it: 

1. In a deep pan with a lid, start cooking the meat over medium heat. Add a little oil or butter if you need it. 
2. When the meat is almost cooked all the way through add in the zucchini and sauté for a couple minutes breaking up the larger pieces of meat as you go. 
3. When the meat is caramelized and cooked all the way through and the zucchini has a bit of color on it, add in everything else except the cheese. Stir so the spices get evenly distributed.   
4. Bring the pan and contents to a boil, then reduce to the heat to low, cover with a lid, and simmer for 10-12 minutes. t will look super soupy like you added too much liquids but don't worry. It will thicken. Mine was good at 11 minutes. 

Hint: Pasta can be tested to see if its done two ways. You can taste it. Or you can break or cut it open and if there is no white on the inside then it is cooked. 

5. Turn the heat off on the pan when the pasta is cooked to your liking. Stir in the huge mound of yummy cheese and as soon as its melted about 37 seconds later. Serve it up and enjoy! 

Copycat Lightened-Up Zuppa Toscana

I love this soup. I eat it every time I go to this chain Italian restaurant across town. My hubby is all about breadsticks but this is what I go for. The soup's broth is creamy and flavorful with chunks of spicy sausage and huge pieces of tender potato. It has vibrant green barely cooked kale that makes it feel like a healthy thing to eat (ahem... despite the cream and cheese sprinkled on top). Its the perfect soup if you don't count chili, chicken noodle soup, and tomato basil. Okay I have a fond place in my stomach and taste buds for a good mug or bowl of soup even in the summer. 

But lets just be real for a second, its summer and over 105 degrees outside.  There is no way I am going to drive in a hot car with warm children to go have warm soup. I love soup but that just seems wrong, you know. So I made my own lightened up version at home. It was fast, affordable, and really easy. About $5, 20 minutes, and a yummy half pot of soup that will feed 2-3 hungry people without driving in the summer heat. As my hubby would say, "you're welcome". Lol lets make some soup. 

Serves 2-3 people

Takes 20-25 minutes 

Recipe adapted from a website that doesn't exist anymore 

 Ingredients:
1 link of spicy sausage (I got mine from the meat counter and it only cost $1) 
1 link of sweet Italian sausage (I got mine from the meat counter and it only cost $1)
3 slices of thick smoked bacon
1/2 of a large carrot, scrubbed, and diced small
1 russet potato, scrubbed and sliced in large rounds and then cut in half
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups of kale chopped (see note below)
2 cups of chicken broth low sodium or homemade
2 cups of water
1/4 tsp of onion powder 
1/4 Tbs of kosher salt
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/3 cup of whole milk or half and half

Directions:
1. Dice up the bacon into pieces. Put them in a medium or large pot, over medium heat, and cook until crispy. Should take about 5 minutes. Once it is cooked, transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate to let some of the bacon fat drain off. Set aside. 

2. Remove all the rendered bacon fat from the pot except for 1 Tb. Return it to the stove over medium heat. Remove the sausage from the casings. Put the sausage and diced carrot in the flavorful bacon fat and cook until the carrot is softened and sausage is almost cooked.Use a spatula to break up large pieces of sausage as needed. Should take another 3-5 minutes. 

3. Add in the garlic and cook for another minute. 

4. Add in the potato, water, chicken broth, onion powder, and salt. Bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes. 

5. Once potato is cooked through, you can tell this because if you pierce it with a fork it falls apart, add in the kale and milk or half and half and cook an additional 3-4 minutes.  Note: When cutting the 2-3 kale leaves its faster if you hold onto the leaf near the top, pinching the hard stem with one hand and pulling down, the more pleasing tasting leaf should tear away easily. Then just rough chop it into bite size pieces. 

6. Taste and adjust salt/pepper if needed. Serve up with rolls & butter, bread & butter, or crackers. I am a bit more careful with carbs these days so I eat it just as is with no sides. Love those soft chunks of potato. Tastes great the next day too. 

Thanks for stopping by!
Stephanie

Veggie Sausage Rice Skillet

Yeah it has been awhile since I have posted new content. BUT. After 7+ long months of being absent from new recipes, I had to share this one. This one saved my evening. I made this easy skillet one pot (sort of) thing for dinner tonight, and the result was like a locust swarm descended upon my kitchen table. Usually that means:

a) I should make this again, 

b) it tastes good, 

c) my two little guys are in the middle of a growth spurt, 

d) all of the above.... 

(ding) the correct answer is D

So I have two growing boys, and a husband who doesn't really care for sandwiches. He says they aren't really filling. yada. yada. yada. Then of course it has to be somewhat toddler-friendly. Sometimes cutting things very small works for him. Sometimes it fails in a really bad... wait for it.... let-me-throw-food-at-you-and-all-over-floor... type of way. Hello parenting. Then he cries because he's hungry and I just give in to whatever he'll keep down like crackers and cheese. 

P.S. If you are wondering...I have been making my top 5 of my favorites over and over again. Repetition is one of the keys I found to surviving having a newborn and teething not sleeping adorable baby. Here are some links to my favorites. You def should try these. 

Balsamic Shredded Beef, 

Black Refried Beans (from scratch),

Quick Zucchini Asian Beef Bowl , 

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chip Oat Muffins, 

and 

Cheesy hot easy chicken bacon subs. 

After all that.... here's that previously mentioned lifesaver recipe. Super easy to follow. Super easy to make. Tons of healthy veg cleverly hid under a ton of cheese. Great for kids and tired parents :) Enjoy.

Veggie Sausage Rice Skillet 

Serves 4-6  Total time 20-25 minutes

recipe adapted from hillshire farm magazine advertisement

Ingredients: 

1/2 red pepper, diced small

1/2 onion, diced small

small can of tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp oregano

1 zucchini, diced small

2 and half - 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 pkg of frozen broccoli, defrosted or not (if you forget)

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 & 1/2 pkg of beef smoked sausage, diagonally sliced

3 cups of white or brown rice cooked

Easy Directions with matching pictures: 

1. Heat the olive oil and lay sliced sausage down in a deep skillet. Over medium heat brown the sausage. If all the sausage doesn't fit no worries just push it to the side when you see color to make room for the rest. After one side is browned on most of them continue with step 2.

2. Lower the heat just a little and add in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Stir often. 

3. Add in the red pepper. 

4. Add in the onion. 

5. Add in the defrosted broccoli

6. Sauté all the veggies together for approx 10 minutes until veggies are tender crisp. 

7. Add in the tomato sauce, seasonings, and water. Stir again. 

8. Add in the cooked rice. Stir really really good. 

Note: If you don't have any leftover rice. Just start some white rice on the stove when you start the recipe and it will be done in time to add it here. Or cheat and use the microwave stuff. I think I have heard some good things nowadays about brown rice.

9. Sprinkle the cheese over the entire skillet and serve it when the cheese is melted.   

That's all folks

Take it easy